Support The Hobby
I would like to point out to the News Brief readers that there are a number of organizations taking on the challenge against various
types of legislation dealing with metal detecting and gold prospecting. MDHTALK's recommendation is to visit their website and
give strong consideration to joining the fight. In some cases your support may be to send emails and / or write a letter to specific
legislators or to provide funds to help with the fight. Here are the organizations and a link to their website.

What is a News Brief?
The news brief provides a brief look into any news event. The intent of the news brief is to provide you, the reader, with news clips on
what was taking place in the hobby last month. To read the whole story select the Article Link or go to MDHTALK.org.
There are more news stories placed on the MDHTALK website for January the news stories listed in the MDHTALK News Brief are just a portion
of all the hobby related news reported the past month. The news Brief is now available in Adobe PDF format, there is a link at
the top of this webpage. The news brief is no longer emailed; it is only available on the MDHTALK website and can be downloaded.

Metal Detecting took form in the 1950-60s and the detectorists who were metal detecting at that time had very few restrictions and the finds were
fabulous. Metal detecting during this period can be described similar to being in the old west with open ranges and anything goes. The finds stories
from those in the hobby during that period are hard to believe against today’s detecting results.

So is Metal detecting on the Endangered List? Let’s take a look at the barriers and variables that affect the hobby.

Barriers to Recreational Metal Detecting

The Law: Today, the U.S. metal detecting environment is controlled by a hodgepodge of Federal, State, City, County laws. A major reason for this is
that there is no regulation, law or statue at the Federal level that provides any support for recreational metal detecting.

Some of the Federal statues were written before metal detecting became a popular hobby and since these acts were drafted to protect America’s
Heritage it may have been felt that users of a metal detector on federal lands would rob America of some of its heritage. There were four major
federal acts drafted to protect America’s heritage and everyone (detectorist) should read each of them. They are:

The treasure of a ‘traitor’: Amateur metal detectorist unearths 350-year-old ring that belonged to King Charles II’s courtier who was hung, drawn and quartered after being FRAMED for treason in 1678.
Article Link

American Mining Rights Assn is not a gold club but rather an advocacy group for miners and public land users to preserve and maintain their rights as they pertain to access to their public lands.
January News

LINCOLN – Would you allow someone to hunt for metal on your property?
The response from many people is “no,” says Nathan Matthews, of Lincoln.

“I always ask permission, but it’s starting to seem like less and less people
are OK with metal detecting,” he said. “It’s starting to become a major issue.
More and more people look down on it now.”

Matthews, who runs Rhode Island Relics, a licensed and insured metal detecting
group running annual events in the area, feels squeezed out of the town and
state that he calls home, no longer welcome to partake in the hobby even on
public lands.

He said he was first asked to stop metal detecting on the properties abutting
the Chase Farm Park this fall, and was then booted from Lincoln Woods State Park
shortly thereafter. Most recently, he said police officers asked him not to
return to a spot he had been detecting near for years because he was passing
through private property.

Matthews believes that under state legislation, a “no trespassing” sign must be
posted on public land not owned by a land trust, otherwise someone can metal
detect there (excluding residential properties, which require the owner’s
permission).

For their part, members of the Lincoln Police Department say they have made no
official directives regarding metal detecting. Capt. Philip Gould, the
department’s public information officer, said there’s nothing on record
prohibiting metal detecting on public property as long as detectorists obey
local ordinances and avoid digging up the town’s sports complexes.

“Unless they’re metal detecting after hours or damaging property, we have no
problem with it,” he said. “I don’t see a public danger with metal detecting as
long as you’re abiding by local ordinances and being respectful of private
property.”

The Lincoln Police Department doesn’t have jurisdiction over Lincoln Woods,
which houses Rhode Island State Police barracks. When asked for comment, state
police directed questions to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management.

A spokeswoman for RIDEM noted the law regarding metal detecting in state parks
and management areas mandates that metal detectors or other location devices be
“restricted to designated areas during specified time periods.”

Matthews, who has been asked to cease detecting on certain lands by RIDEM, said
detectorists should be working with RIDEM, land trusts and local historical
societies to recover “the history in the ground.” Instead, “they want it to stay
lost in the ground forever,” he said.

“We just want to find the history for them,” he said. “It’s not about making
money or finding treasure. A one-cent piece isn’t even worth a penny at this
rate. You may find a coin but the value is virtually worthless … but it has
serious historical significance.”

Matthews said the negative perception of metal detecting is not limited to
Lincoln. While he noted that Cumberland’s former Mayor Bill Murray was welcoming
and that managers of Franklin Farm never shut their doors to the metal detecting
community, the rest of the town is not as welcoming.

“Go anywhere else in Cumberland and see what they say about metal detecting,” he
said. “It’s all over the state. Now, as a metal detector you’d better prepare to
drive three to four hours to find a place to metal detect.”

After his group hosted a “seeded hunt” at Franklin Farm last spring, a neighbor
called to complain that they’d destroy the landscape.

“The reality is, hundreds of people show up, dig proper holes, remove trash and
provide a history of the area,” Matthews said. Rhode Island Relics is planning
another “Pound the Ground” event at the farm in April.

“I don’t need 5,000 buckles,” he said. “If someone allows me to search their
property, I always say they can keep what I find. I just want to take pictures
for our Facebook page to promote the history.”

He said he also collects and properly disposes of bottles, trash and other urban
waste in his travels, even disposing of heroin needles recovered from parks and
playgrounds around the state.

“The thing that’s starting to stress me out is that we’re not hurting anybody.
If there was any sort of criminal activity to worry about, it certainly wasn’t
metal detecting,” said Matthews. “For some reason people are considering a
passion for finding history in the ground criminal activity. It doesn’t make
sense to me.”

Event News

Metal Detecting & Gold Prospecting Events.
Now is the time to start planning and getting your club's 2018/19 hunt information on the web. The sooner it is out and available to the metal
detecting community the greater the chance for people to see it and give your event some consideration.